Rim locks are surface-mounted door locks that add a second, stronger lock by bolting onto the inside face of your door, with only a keyhole showing outside. Got only a knob lock? This is the upgrade. King Locksmith and Doors Inc. installs and repairs rim locks across Washington DC, Northern Virginia and Maryland, licensed, insured and bonded for 25 years.
Locksmiths file rim locks under ANSI/BHMA A156.5, the standard for auxiliary locks, locks that back up your main lock. The body screws to the inside face and throws a bolt into a surface strike, the keeper on the jamb. Outside, a rim cylinder, the keyed part, sits in a 1-1/4 inch hole and turns a flat tailpiece that reaches the body.
Bodies fit doors 1-3/8 to 1-3/4 inches thick, most District of Columbia rowhouse doors. Cylinders come in common keyways like SC1 and KW1, both 5-pin, or a 7-pin interchangeable core a control key swaps in seconds. Jimmy-proof models add an interlocking strike that resists prying. We match all three.
A spread jamb or slipped card cannot beat it, because the bolt throws into a strike on the jamb face, not the door edge. It adds real resistance without replacing your knob lock.
You keep your keys, because a rim cylinder takes common keyways and pins to match your current key. You get a solid fit on old or thin doors where a mortise cut would weaken the wood, since the body sits on the surface. Ready to upgrade? We install the same visit.
We install rim locks on rowhouse front doors, apartment entry doors, church side doors, basement walkouts and shop stockroom doors across NOVA, wherever a second lock is wanted without cutting the door.
A rim lock is the wrong choice on a fire-rated corridor door, because the surface body is not part of the door’s listing, and on a door that must open in one motion for egress, where a rim exit device fits. Not sure? We survey your door free.
Tell us your door thickness, keyway and budget today. We match the right rim lock from stock we trust, then install it the same visit.
5 brands ride on our trucks because their rim locks survive city doors: bodies that stay tight, cylinders we can pin, parts we already carry.
Segal built the interlocking deadbolt, a bolt and strike that lock into each other, and we stock its bodies and strikes, so yours installs today.
Medeco rim cylinders carry a UL 437 rating, the test for resisting picking and drilling, and fit any body, so your keyhole stops being weak.
Mul-T-Lock rim cylinders use a patented key that only registered dealers can cut, so no copy of your key appears without your signature on file.
Marks USA jimmy-proof deadbolts accept standard rim cylinders, so we pin one to the key you already carry and install it on the same visit.
The key turns but the bolt stays put: the tailpiece, the flat bar linking cylinder to body, has twisted or snapped. The cylinder spins in the door: the two back plate screws holding it have loosened or stripped. The bolt drags or seizes: rain and salt have corroded the body on an exposed alley door.
On arrival we check cylinder to body alignment, tailpiece length, back plate screws and bolt throw into the strike. Locked out? Our mobile units respond 24/7. Call (240) 345-1455 in Maryland or (202) 800-2622 in Washington DC and NOVA.
A twisted tailpiece is swapped for the correct length from our trucks. A spinning cylinder gets fresh back plate screws or a new back plate. A corroded body is cleaned and lubricated, unless the bolt has pitted through, when repair no longer pays.
We replace after a pry attack, a discontinued body, or for a stronger interlocking model. We match cylinder hole, door thickness and strike type so the new lock uses the existing holes, and pin the cylinder to your current key where the keyway allows. Measure, match, install, test the throw before we leave. Our in-house door expert corrects a sagging door too. Free estimates.
A door with one knob lock is a door waiting to be forced. Call (202) 800-2622 now or book rim lock installation online today.
Rim locks secure rowhouse entries, apartment doors and storerooms, but every door has its match. Browse our lock type resources below to see each function, its applications and our services.
Straight answers from King Locksmith Technicans to on Rim Locks questions customers ask us most.
(240) 345-1455
Usually. Bodies fit standard 1-3/8 to 1-3/4 inch Maryland home doors.
Yes, if it shares your keyway, the slot your key fits, common in Northern Virginia.
Look inside: a box on the door face, bolt sliding into a jamb keeper.
With a standard cylinder, yes. A restricted cylinder stops that.
